Ball-bearing.



No. 644,245. Patented Feb. 27, |900. c. E. GATES.

. BALL BEARING. (Application illed Aug. 8, 1898.)

A(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARROLL E. GATES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES FOWLER, OF SAME PLACE.

BALL-BEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 644,245, dated February 27, 1900.

Application filed August 3, 1398. Serial No. 687,582. (No model.)

do awaywith the impinging friction in a ballbearing.

Another object of my invention is to pro- Vide a means for automatically lubricating and cleaning the balls and opposed bearingsurfaces.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of a portion of a bicycle-hub containing my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of aball and lubricator carrier. Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2 in the line 3 3. Fig. 3a shows a plan of a portion of a ball and a lubricator carrier with a ball retained in place by contact with lubricator-heads. Fig. 4. is a perspective View of one form of lubricator. Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show modifications.

Similar numbers of reference refer to corresponding parts in the various figures. Modifications are marked prime.

I will now describe the preferred form of my invention with reference to Figs. l, 2, 3, and 4. of the accompanying drawings.

l is a bicycle-hub, 2 its'cup, 3 its cone, and 4. its shaft, all of Well-known construction.

8 is a ball-carrier locatedbetween the opposed bearing-surfaces, such as those of the cup 2 and the cone 3. It is preferably milled and crowned at 11, as shown in Figs. l and 3. It is also preferably made cup or dish shaped; but it may be of any form required by the shape of the space in which it is to be confined. It has a central opening 12, so as to pass loosely over the shaft 4, around which it revolves, usually without contact. It also has holes 7 or slots or other openings, in which the balls 5 are mounted. These said balls are preferably five in number, and the said spaces are preferably a little larger than the said balls, so that the latter revolve without binding on the former. The said carrier, by preference, also has mounted in it lubricators 10, which are secured so as to al'- ternate with the balls 5. One form of securing the said lubricators in the said carrier is to make them, as shown in Fig. 4, with enlarged heads, soften them in oil or lubricant, and then mount them in holes 9 or slots or other openings, in which their bodies are confined, leaving their heads projecting against the opposed bearing-surfaces, such as those of the cup 2 and cone 3.

The lubricator 10 may be made in a great variety of forms and of a great variety of ma.- terial; but I prefer to make them of felt, which when saturated with a suitable lubricant retain it for a considerable period. The projecting heads of the said lubricators will preferably be so made and shaped that when the carrier is in place they will brush lightly over both of the bearing-surfaces and the contiguous surface of the alternating balls 5..

The operation of my invention is as follows: The balls 5 are mounted in openings 7 of the carrier 8, Where they are retained by the slight contact with them of the heads of the lubricators 10. The carrier is then put in place between the opposed bearing-surfaces, such as those of the cup 2 and the cone 3. The balls 5 now have points of contact with cup 2 and cone 3, the number of said points of said cont-actdepending necessarily on the shapeof the cup and cone, but the now preferred construction is that shown in Fig. l, which gives a total of three points of contact 2 with a cup and one with a cone. The friction between the driven parts and the balls compels thelatter to travel, and the movement of the balls in turn compels the carrier to travel.V The impinging friction of the balls on each other is entirely avoided. The lubricatorheads brush lightly over both 9o bearing-surfaces just in advance of the balls and also over the contiguous surfaces of the balls. The lubricators remove from all the said surfaces any particle of dust which may have gathered, and thus keep the said surfaces perfectly clean; also, the said lubricators retain the oil or lubricant-distributing only a thin film of the same on the balls and the bearing-surfaces. In this Way the parts are much more neatly and efficiently lubriroo cated than when the considerable quantities of lubricant are put on to mix up subsequently with the dust and form an uncleanly and scouring deposit within the ball chamber or space; also, the lubricators by absorbing the lubricant tend to lessen the action of the air on the lubricant, and thus prevent part of the evaporation of a volatile or changeable lubricant.

A modified form of the carrier is shown in Fig. 5. The carrier 8 is here made of sheet metal stamped to shape without being crowned, as at 11 in Figs. l and 3. This same modified form of carrier 8 is shown in Fig. Gr in place in a bicycle-hub of a construction modified from the generally now preferred form in that the cup 2' is rounded, as shown. This form gives one instead of two points of contact between the cup and ball, making a total of two instead of three points of contact between the ball and bearing-surfaces.

In Fig. 7 is shown still another form of hub in which the cone 3' is shaped, as shown, so as to give two points of contact with the ball. Here the ball has a total of four points of contact with the bearing-surfaces. Thus according to the construction of the hub each of the balls 5 has a total of two, three, or four points of contact with the opposed bearingsurfaces, as those of the cup and cone.

l. The combination with opposed bearingsurfaces of a ball-carrier located between the said bearing-surfaces, balls mounted in the said carrier and lubricators mounted in the said carrier interspersed among the balls.

2. The combination with opposed bearingsurfaces of a ball-carrierlocated between the said bearing-surfaces and provided with openings for receiving balls and openings for receivin g lubricators alternately arranged, and balls and lubricators alternately mounted in said openings substantially as described.

3. The combination with opposed bearingsurfaces of a ball and lubricator carrier loiV cated between said bearing-surfaces, balls and lubricators mounted alternately in said carrier and projecting therefrom onto the said bearing-surfaces, the heads of the lubricators contacting also with the surfaces of the balls.

4f. The combination with a cup, a cone, a hub supporting the cup, and a shaft supporting the cone, of a dislied ball and lubricator carrier mounted between the opposed sur faces of the cup and cone and balls and lubricators alternately mounted in said carrier.

In testimony whereof I have signed my .name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' CARROLL E. GATES. Witnesses:

R. I-I. E. STARR, ARTHUR KENNY. 

